102 Billion App Store downloads in 2013- Gartner

According to a recent forecast report by Gartner, Mobile app stores will see annual downloads reach 102 billion this year. From 64 billion downloads in 2012, this is a 59.37% increase, along with a 45% increase in the revenue generated by app downloads, from $18 billion in 2012 to $26 billion in 2013. These whopping figures could be attributed to the rise in the smartphone sales worldwide.

The battle between Google Play and Apple app store might seem never ending but together they make up 90% of the total app downloads. Free app purchases are dominating the market, “Free apps currently account for about 60 percent and 80 percent of the total available apps in Apple’s App Store and Google Play, respectively,” said Brian Blau, research director at Gartner, and yet they will account to 91% of the total 102 billion.

As per the report, the in-app purchases (IAPs) will account for 48 percent of app store revenue by 2017. This means that the consumers should start expecting to see more of IAPs as this is going to become a major revenue source for app stores and developers. When asked whether in-game purchases were an issue because of complaints about children spending money without parental approval, Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner, said app stores had already introduced password protections.

This press release by Gartner might be a happy news for Android and iOS developers. However, there hasn’t been much mention about the other prominent platforms like Windows and Blackberry operating systems. With an increase in the sales of smartphones and this projected rise in app purchases, there is a scope for growth of all the different platform developers alike.